South Perth Shale Supersequence Palaeogeographic Maps for CO2 Storage Assessment

Geoscience Australia produced palaeogeographic maps for the South Perth Shale Supersequence in the Vlaming Sub-basin as part of a 2011 National CO2 Infrastructure Plan project. The study mapped the distribution and thickness of mudstone facies, the effective sub-regional seal, to characterize CO2 containment potential. The analysis found sealing capacity varies considerably across the basin, with an earlier study estimating the formation could hold a CO2 column of up to 663 meters.

Use Cases

• Assessing CO2 containment potential based on mapped mudstone facies distribution and thickness.
• Modeling subsurface fluid flow for carbon capture and storage projects based on seal characterization.
• Conducting regional geological risk analysis for CO2 storage sites based on variable sealing capacity.
• Applying sequence-stratigraphic approaches to map seal quality in other deltaic successions.

Strengths

• Based on a three-year project initiated in 2011 as part of a national infrastructure plan.
• Maps are derived from applying a sequence-stratigraphic approach to a thick (1900 m) deltaic succession.
• Analysis incorporates prior estimates of CO2 column holding capacity (up to 663m) from 6 MICP tests.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data files are in PDF, DOCX, and HTML formats, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

The study applied a sequence-stratigraphic approach to map the distribution of mudstone facies across the basin.

Time Range

Project started in 2011; incorporates analysis from a 2006 study.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-30 13:40:14.693324; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Vlaming Sub-basin within the Perth Basin, Western Australia.